Senior Pictures =O

That makes it really set in that I'm GRADUATING! I really can't believe it. On wednesday I will be taking pictures for my college yearbook. I'm a Senior in College. No matter how many times I say it I still feel like i'm the same old kid playin football with the neighborhood kids and rushing home to watch Power Rangers(I swear that wasn't yesterday.) It'll be pretty cool though cuz I get to break in my new suit :) I always feel badass in a suit. Anyway I'm just rambling to put off going back to work, so I guess I'll stop and try to be productive.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

You can't help but really think of what you're thankful for on this day. I personally am thankful for having amazing friends, the best girlfriend, and an almost-complete education that will hopefully earn me a decent job pretty soon. I'm also just thankful for my life in general. I realize that I could definitely have it a lot worse, so when stupid stuff gets me really upset, I just need to think about that, and there's really no need to be angry. I'm usually a pretty happy guy, but I'm just gonna let stuff go, and definitely be as happy as I can be over the next month when people are getting Christmas crazy. Patience is the key.

Enough?

How can i do what needs to be done?
Give you the moon, Give you the sun.
Do the impossible, dazzle and awe.
Pop out your eyes, drop down your jaw.
Say and I'll do, all for you.
Point and I'll go, rain sleet or snow.
Nothing else that needs to be done
so here is the moon, Have fun with the sun.


Please leave comments or thoughts about this. Interpretations?

Coming Down

Ok the most hellish couple of weeks are finally over. School work piled up like crazy, mainly my Accounting Infomations System's test, which I passed and that's pretty much all I was hoping for. I also took an Investments test so I'm awaiting that grade, which I won't get til Monday. I aced the first one so I'm not too worried. Now I'm planning on just relaxin for a while. I'm going to dinner tonight at Cafe Escadrille with Sarah for our 3 1/2 years :) (yes we celebrate half years) That's always a good time.

We tried to go apple picking over the weekend, me Sarah, her sister Jess, and her boyfriend Austin, and we were absolutely disgusted. There was an admission fee of $14 per person!!! And $2.50/pound after that!! We calculated it out and, with their suggestion of 15 lbs per regular bag, for us to go and get one bag for all 4 of us, it would be about $93!! Little too expensive for a bag of apples IMHO. So we went to Boston instead and dropped Sarah off at school after lunch at Bertucci's.

I'm also really sad. Mike Matusow has been knocked out of the Main Event of the WSOP :( :( He's probably my favorite poker player, partly because a lotta people at my college card game started callin me Mike the Mouth. lol I just really enjoy his style of play. When he's on his game he usually always makes the right desicions, especially in big tournaments. He also gives some life to the table with his basically nonstop talking. That's kinda like me unless i go into LDP mode. I really enjoyed watching him this year because he had a much more positive outlook on the game and just life in general. He lost a lot of weight and got in much better control of himself, which I think made him a much more disciplined player and prevented the almighty "Matusow blowup." He got screwed when his trip aces lost after the other guy boated his A9 on the turn, and I think if that 9 doesn't come he was a big contender for the championship. O well maybe next year.

Seeing as I'm writing this blog at school I should probably go do some work or something. Catch ya on the flip side.

I Got a New Phone!!!!!

Finally!!!! I have had the same phone for over three years, the same one that originally came with the plan. I finally got a new one and switched over to Verizon and I absolutely love it. It's the LG Voyager. It has a touch screen on the front and then flips open for a ginormous qwerty keyboard and a pretty good sized screen. I'm pumped and it's a much better texting plan so i'll be doin that significantly more.

GO SOX!!!!

Once again, the Boston Red Sox are going to the playoffs!! They clinched their spot last night beating the Indians 5-4... And I was there!! :) It was an amazing game to be at. Even tho I just happened to walk out to the bathroom right before Youk decided to hit a 2 run shot, but that's ok. I was still able to see everything else, and the excitement and energy in the park was just astonishing. And when Paps got to that bullpen gate, man the place was just erupting. I can't wait to see them in October take away another ring.

I always have a problem thinking about how to start these blogs. Luckily at least for this one that was a pretty good start, but i'll work on that for the future. I broke in my brand new poker table last night. I won it on a scratch ticket, along with a nice set of chips. It was a very very good first game. I won $100. :) By far the biggest winner of the group, so that was nice cause I was getting low on cash due to my check only being for one day this week. My stupid boss gave me too much last check so he fixed it this time. Hopefully I have a work study check waiting for me too.

I'm startin to get into some serious thought about what I want to do after college. The main idea of those thoughts is.... I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!! I'm really conflicted about whether to choose accounting or finance as my profession. It seems like finance would be less of a same crap every day kind of job, but then again i'm good at accounting and it has really good job security, so I'm just conflicted. I'm talking to as many teachers as I can to get different points of view so I'm sure I'll ne ok by the time I start looking for jobs. Til then I'll just learn as much as I can about each of em so I'm all set either way.

I'll get back to watching Die Hard now, one of the best movies ever made. Luckily I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning so I can stay up and watch it all. :)

Early

So I got up this morning and went to work, only to find out that I wasn't actually supposed to work today. My boss told me I was a couple days ago but apparently the other guys that were supposed to work with me decided not to. So here I am 4 hours later and completely lost lol. I haven't been up this side of noon on a Saturday except for work in a looooong time. Of course at the moment I'm playin a tournament online. When that's over I'll probably hit the books a little. I mean literally hit them, like punch them with all the force i can summon. Obviously kidding but school is definitely a stress factor lately. I worked a couple nights last week as well, and I think i'm doing the same this week, so it's been busy, but I don't really think it's hindering me too much at this point.

One good thing is I started a car pool with a couple girls from school so I'll only have to drive a couple times a week, which will help a lot since I'm driving to work too and stupid Hurricane Ike is messing with the oil prices. I saw some footage on CNN this morning of Texas and I was shocked. All these huge storms lately are causing such havoc. The poor news guy was like blowing away. I felt bad cuz I was complaining about it drizzling the other day lol but it makes me actually happy to live in the New England area, where it may be impossible to know what the weather will be on any given day, but at least we don't get anything too big like that.

Well I guess I'll get back to my tournament. I'm doin pretty good so hopefully i'll make it to the money. Sadly enough I have to report in my blog again that I'm watching the Hills right now. Whatever it's a good show don't judge me. :) I'm sure everyone will be proud that I blogged again so soon so maybe i'll even keep it up. Til then peace and chicken grease.

Long Time No Blog

I feel like I start every blog off like this but sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I can't believe the summer is already over and I'm back in school. Working 6 days a week must have made the time fly. Other than work I basically relaxed and hung out with friends and the girlfriend. A couple of unsuccessful trips to Foxwoods kinda put a damper on the summer but they were still fun. Wow that pretty much sums up my summer in a pathetically short manner. lol

As for school, this semester I am completely screwed. So far all of my teachers have told me that I am going to have to put a lot of time into their course. Multiply that by 5 and you get no time for Mikey. Add in work study and the two days a week I'll be painting and, well you see where I'm going. I honestly think it'll actually be good for me. If I can stay away from the TV this can really help my procrastination issues and I won't have to depend on acing all my finals to pass my classes. I'm also starting to get into the real topics that'll make my future career easier, which is another thing I'm gonna have to start worrying about. Come October, a lot of companies are going to start coming to UMass Lowell looking for students that need a job getting out of college. Since this is my last year, that would include me. That's a scary thought that I've been thinking about for a while. Pretty soon, I am going to be done with my school career, other than MBA and such. It's weird to think that I will no longer be walking the halls, sayin hey to all my friends, eatin lunch with them, crackin jokes in the classroom. It's kinda sad to imagine myself not in that environment. I'll miss it but it'll be good to start that new life, with hopefully significant amounts of money.

As for other topics, I have been watching the show Entourage online and i am absolutely hooked. Every chance I get I'm watching another episode. It is funny and witty and makes me want to get really rich really fast and live the high life. Maybe some day ;)

Well I'm off to watch more and I'll probably start breakin into the textbooks. I got painting nice and early tomorrow so it won't be too much. And for all of those complaining about me not blogging enough, I can only give an empty promise that i will try to blog more. Thanks.

long time

Sorry I haven't written in a while. School has been crazy but it's finally over for the semester. I even get a whole 5 days before my online class starts for the summer. Oh well it's 5 days that are much needed. A big weight is off my chest because my Intermediate Accounting II class was very close to being the death of me. Coming to the end of the course i needed around a 90 on the final exam to get a C in the course, which is what is needed to pass. I got 101.5! and a C+ for the course!! That made me very happy, a fact that I felt I had to email to my teacher lol.

Unfortunately I will not be working at Barnes N Noble over the summer :( I went there today and talked to the new boss and he said they hired a lot of people and just didn't have room for poor little me. I guess it will keep the stress factor down a little but the money would have been nice. Other than that I will be painting again down at Harvard. It will be fun. I'm gonna be as happy as I can and make my last summer memorable. I'm also gonna try some more trips to Foxwoods, which I will start next week with my girlfriend, so that's gonna be amazing.

I've been trying to write some more music, but again that will pick up now that school's over. i went to the high school and got some of my old music that i wrote there and was kinda disappointed with some of it. Some of the parts don't sound the same on my laptop, so I'm doing a little tweaking with those to make em sound good. I still love listening to them though. Brings back great memories and gets my creative juices flowing.

Other than that I'm just trying to eat healthy and I'll be picking up the workin out over the summer. I'll probably be blogging more often because I always forget how easy and fun it can be. Until then my friends, keep your ear to the grindstone.

Composing

I've been writing some music on my new sibelius software over the last few weeks. I finished one song and I was pretty happy with how it came out. I was trying to figure out how to send it to someone so they could listen to it and I kinda stumbled onto something really cool. I figured out how I could actually publish my music online so people can buy it! It felt really cool I feel like I'm a real composer now, and I saw my name copyrighted! lol. I don't really expect to sell a lot but it's still cool. If anyone's interested you can go to www.sibeliusmusic.com and search for Michael Gallivan. :) I think you might have to download some software to be able to see and hear the music, I know i had to. So yeah other than that I've just been doing schoolwork and working out and stuff. Sometime soon I'll go back to the High School and see if I can get the songs I wrote there to put those online too. For now I'm gonna go back to watching Lord of the Rings (on TNT but still good).

Foxwoods

A week after I turned 21 I went to Foxwoods for a couple days. Me and my friend Mike went down early on Monday morning, which was also St. Patrick's Day. I brought $200 with me. Right when we got there we went straight to the tables. I put $150 down at a $1-$2 No Limit Hold Em Cash game. By about 1:00 I had $450. We took a break and went and grabbed some lunch and checked into our room at the Two Trees Inn, which is right down the street and has a 24 hour shuttle to the casino. I'll take this spot to say that our room was awesome. The beds were probably the most comfortable I've ever slept in and it was just a big, cool room. Mike decided he wanted to take a nap before his tournament at 7 so I went back to the casino by myself and put $200 down at another 1-2 game. I played there from 4 til about 9 and walked away with $350 from that game, bringing my overall profit up to $450.

When Mike was done with his tourney we went to Stadium Sports Bar and Grill and ate, had some drinks, and watched the Celtics game, which was absolutely intense. The C's were down 22 points in the first quarter and didn't get the lead until about halfway through the 4th quarter and ended up winning the game. Then we went and grabbed some snacks, and by some I mean way too many for just two people to have, but it was a gambler's vacation so we had to pig out. We took them back to the room and watched some random stuff on TV, including Full House, and did some much needed reminiscing about the good old days of our youth. We've known each other since we were about 2 years old so there's always a lot of reminiscing to do.

In the morning a very interesting thing happened, made even more interesting by our conversation of the night before about how every little decision people make impacts their lives, no matter how small. We're very philosophical. So I was debating back and forth whether or not to play some more or just go home with my $450 profit. After a while I was just like screw it why not, so he decided to buy into the 1:00 tourney, being the tournament guru he is, and I figured I'd pass the time by playing some more cash. About 2 or 3 hours later, he was out of the tournament and I was up another $300! So rounding out my first trip to Foxwoods I made a total profit of $750!!! This was so huge for me because it's really my first big win for poker in one round.

After the 2 hour drive home I finally got the surprise Birthday gift I had been waiting for, and it actually was a surprise! It was Sibelius 5, which is the newest music-writing software and a newer version of the stuff I used in my Theory classes in high school. I was so psyched because writing music is really something I want to get back into so it will be great to continue my true passion. One little snag is I can't hear the samples that they have to begin the program but hopefully I'll be able to work that one out.

As if it couldn't get any better, I got a random urge to buy a couple of scratch tickets yesterday, and I won another $120. As long as my luck keeps going the way it's going my financial problems will hopefully take a back seat for a little while. And maybe I'll find a way to sell some new music that I write to make a few extra bucks. All in all it's been a great week, made even better after a great night spent in Boston with my girlfriend, so it's been a very good Spring break and I wish it was a lot longer.

Well time to go and try out Sibelius and see if I can become a musical genius.

21!!!!!!!

Today's my 21st birthday!!!!! :) :) :)

The last month has gone by soooo slow waiting for this day and now it's finally here, and actually nearing an end. I actually kinda don't feel well. My throat is burning like hell, literally. That still didn't stop me from takin a shot of the Patron Tequila my bro got me for my bday. I had a feeling he was gonna get me some kind of tequila. But yeah other than the sickness it was a pretty good day. Went to the RMV and was out in about 5 minutes!! I couldn't believe it. I didn't even open the book that I brough to during what I thought would be a very long wait.

Speaking of books I got a nice bookcase for my birthday, which was great cuz I have piles and piles of books scattered around my room so it'll be great to put them in some sort of order. There's also a present mysteriously on the way, or at least that's what my mom said. I kinda think it's a new phone because she keeps trying to make me believe that she didn't remember what kind I was lookin at and she said she didn't see that one anywhere, and she usually does that to try to get our guards down and then surprise us. It stopped working when we were about 5.

In other cool news, I put my first video up on youtube! It's the song I talked about before called Me Stew. I found some software on my computer that makes movies so i figured I'd give it a try. I just found some pictures online that would match with the words. They didn't really work out the way I wanted, but it still worked out pretty well, and I absolutely love some parts, especially the beginning about 30 seconds and the end. If you want to check it out it's at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqqgUx6wUyE

Well that's all for tonight. I'm gonna go try and give my throat a rest and stop the incessant burning.

Cash Game=Money

I've been playing online again and I've really discovered my niche. I've noticed it for a while but never realized how true it is. The fact is I'm just better at playing cash games than I am at tournaments. Most of the time when I'm playing a tournament I'll have a cash game going on the side too because that's usually where I win the most money. After the tourney I won a couple posts ago I haven't been doing too well, only a couple other cashes, but my cash game has been just superb. I just enjoy the feel of cash games. It's much more relaxed because you don't hafta worry about making big moves and getting big stacks before the blinds keep going up. I also think cash games make me a better player. I see a lot of hands and I work as hard as I can to change my style during games to confuse my opponents, which is a must if you want to become a winning player.

As for other news, I don't really have much. Been going to school and doing a looooooot of work. The homework is absolutely piling on this year as I get into the upper level courses of Accounting. I'm going to start looking for an internship over the summer. There are a couple of CPA firms in neighboring towns that would be perfect. Credit for school and paid.

I've also been really stressed out lately. My financial situation is starting to get overwhelming. Although I know there are people I could borrow money from, I hate doing that, but i've never had this little money in my life. I'm still hoping Barnes N Noble to call back, which is scary enough as it is. I wish I could work more at work study, but the amount of money they allow me for the semester really isn't enough. That's why I'm workin my ass off on the online poker scene trying to get some money going. I've been very successful in the past so hopefully I can keep that going. And there's always my girlfriend Sarah who helps me get through it and constantly reminds me that there are more important things in life than money :)

Well I had more other news than I thought I did lol. Once I get started on these things I can't stop. Enough blabbing for tonight though I'm gonna go and try to win some more denero.

Music

It's occurred to me that I haven't really talked about music very much in my posts. Although I talk about poker nonstop, music is and always will be my first love. As long as I can remember I've been listening to music, even back when I used to think that Snoop Dogg was kinda like Dr. Suess(because they both rhymed). I've been playing the trombone since the 4th grade, and I currently play in a local orchestra a few months out of the year. I've also been teaching myself to play the piano, although I can only play a few songs and it will take a while to get really good. I also love to compose music. I haven't done it since high school, but when I was in high school I won a composition competition at Umass Lowell for a song I wrote. The lyrics of the song were from a Shel Silverstein poem called "Me Stew." That is a big passion of mine and I will definitely be taking it up again when I have more time.

Even walking around or in class I always have some song playing in my head. The radio's always on in my car and when I'm on the computer and basically whenever a radio's available. I just love the way that every emotion you are feeling can be expressed so beautifully through song. Anytime I am wound up or upset I just turn on some music and close my eyes and I really just drift into another world where nothing exists but the background music representing the scenery and the melody depicting a story. It's a world in which you can be happy, sad, angry, whatever you want to be. You listen to your mood. Playing and writing music has the same effect and let's you just let loose and leave all your emotions out there. It's the greatest thing in the world and without music the world would be a much gloomier place.

The Slump is Over!!

So i put money back online (on ultimate bet) and I've been doing very well. I usually play just cash games but I've been playing more and more of the big Multi-Table Tournaments and I've been doing really well, which doesn't usually happen. I made the final table last night at one and got knocked out in 10th on a hand I really couldn't do anything about. And then tonight I played one and I came in first, which was the first time I've done that online and was naturally my biggest payout. I really feel like I'm finally getting how to do well in these big tourneys, which is absolutely huge because they are the biggest moneymakers. I'm even gonna be smart tonight and stop playing for the night so I can keep the money for a little while ;)

I'm also actually kind of sad today. It was my last day of painting before I go back to school for another semester, and I don't know if I will be going back because I'm gonna start looking into internships. As tough as it was to wake up at 4:30 every morning, I had a good time painting. The other guys are really cool and made every day fun. I'll miss it but it will be good to start really learning how to be an accountant and now I know all kinds of around the house stuff too which will come in handy.

Well I had so much energy after my win I had to type all that so now I think I'll play some pool for a little while :)

all work and no play

So I haven't blogged for a while. I really haven't had much to talk about. I've been working again. Over the summers and some winters I paint at Harvard University. It's pretty cool and there are some awesome buildings there. Most of them suck to paint because they are so old and can't get knocked down because they're "historical landmarks." So we end up putting compound on basically an entire wall before we paint it, which takes a ridiculous amount of time to dry. O well I can't complain cus i'm getting money and I desperately need it right now.

Speaking of that I'm actually looking for a job right now that I can have during the school year. I do work study at school but it's really not enough. I'm thinking about going to Barnes n Noble, where I worked back when I was in high school, just for a few extra bucks.

My poker slump has reached an all time low. I honestly can't remember the last time I won. Even at the home games that I've always cleaned up at the most I've won is a few bucks, most of the time losing 10 or 20. I'm gonna be a true poker player and blame it on the "poker gods" and the fact that the cards just aren't going my way right now, which is true. Anyway it's happened before and I've bounced back so hopefully that will happen before March when I'm making my debut at Foxwoods right after I turn 21. I am really pumped about that and I'm going to play my absolute best while I'm there.

Well back to the beest night of TV and maybe some free poker online(fun stuff).